Youngsters impress coach as Del Piero shows his class

By Sebastian Hassett

27 September 2012 — 3:00am

ANY doubts about the readiness of Alessandro Del Piero for Sydney FC's first A-League game next Saturday were assuaged about 10 minutes into yesterday's hastily arranged closed-doors friendly at Allianz Stadium.

Having only had possession for the briefest of moments to that point, Del Piero received the ball on the edge of the box and feigned to shoot before playing the ball into space, inviting Terry Antonis to burst through. The 18-year-old had time to pick his spot under Ryan Norval.

The few watching were suitably impressed, but the Italian had more coming by the half-hour mark, allowing Mitch Mallia to nip in from the right to score. Not bad considering he has not played a proper match since last May's Coppa Italia final.

It's a sight Sydney fans hope to get used to this season and on the strength of this performance Del Piero is more than ready to meet the lofty expectations, not to mention the $2 million-a-year price tag.

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But it wasn't just the Italian getting in on the act. Fellow new signing Krunoslav Lovrek showed his talent when he ran directly at two defenders before making space on his left foot to blast a shot with such force that Norvel might have suffered an injury had he put his hand to it.

In the end, the match finished in a 5-0 win for the ''first XI'' side, though there could be some surprise choices made by coach Ian Crook for round one. Antonis finished the match with two goals while fellow youngster Joel Chianese added his name to the scoresheet with a second-half effort.

Yairo Yau, Ali Abbas and Sebastian Ryall, all tipped as first-team starters, played on the second team, suggesting they may have some work to do to break into the starting side.

In the first team yesterday, Trent McClenahan was given the nod to start ahead of Ryall in the centre of defence while Terry McFlynn, Antonis and Mallia made up a midfield three behind a front trio of Chianese, Del Piero and Lovrek.

In a long-predicted move, Brett Emerton lined up at right-back, a position he is likely to fulfil for much of the campaign, especially if Mallia, who has enjoyed a standout pre-season, can hold down the right-midfield position. Emerton, who has spent much of his European and international career at right back, looked at home yesterday and frequently overlapped with Mallia.

While the game didn't match the intensity of the A-League, due in no small part to several youth-teamers having to fill out the second XI, it filled the place of the cancelled friendly against the Mariners, which was meant to be played at the same venue.

''I thought it was a very worthwhile exercise,'' Crook said after the game. ''It is difficult to replicate the intensity of a friendly against another team but this was the best we could do and the players lifted, which was pleasing.

''It was good for Alessandro, Kruno and Emmo to get 70 minutes under their belts, Adam Griffiths was strong in defence coming back from a knock and we had a chance to play a full game with official referees at a good intensity.

''I was happy with what I saw today and we'll continue to work hard ahead of the opening game of the season against Wellington.''

Crook said he was delighted to have three of his young players combining well with some of the veterans, including Del Piero, who played 70 minutes before being substituted.

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''I was very pleased with the young boys going forward,'' the coach said. ''While it was nice to get some game time into the [players] legs today it was also about forming combinations and I thought we did that well. Alessandro and Kruno linked well with Mitch, Joel, Abbas and Yau at different stages.''

Meanwhile, Australia will warm up for November's Asian Under-19 Championships in the UAE with back-to-back matches in Lisbon against Portugal, who have already qualified for next year's under-20 World Cup in Turkey, on October 11 and 14.